Cherpeski recognized for city service

Posted: Thursday, Jan 17th, 2013BY: RUTH HEIDE

Thanking him for his six-plus years with the city, Alamosa Mayor Kathy Rogers presents out-going City Manager Nathan Cherpeski with a clock in a rail car, appropriate for Alamosa’s history and Cherpeski, whose great grandfather worked on the railroad in Alamosa in the 1920’s.

Courier editor

ALAMOSA — “I am going to miss a lot of people,” Alamosa City Manager Nathan Cherpeski said Wednesday afternoon at his farewell reception.

“It’s not necessarily the location you miss. It’s the people.”

Cherpeski has accepted the position of city manager in Klamath Falls, Ore., which is nearer his and his wife’s family. He has served Alamosa as city manager for six and a half years.

“It’s been a great six and a half years,” he said.

Alamosa Mayor Kathy Rogers said when Cherpeski came to Alamosa, he had several unpleasant issues to address, including the salmonella epidemic, city hall and library facilities that had seen better days, deer and other problems.

The mayor commended Cherpeski for the many improvements he undertook in the city and his efforts with economic development. She said she could not say enough good things about him. She added he and his family had become part of the city’s family, and she hoped their new city would love them as much as Alamosa has.

Cherpeski said he has had a great staff here and did not achieve city improvements by himself.

Some members of the Alamosa city council were present for the farewell reception in addition to former long-time Mayor Farris Bervig who helped make the choice to bring Cherpeski to Alamosa.

Bervig said Cherpeski has been an asset to Alamosa, and the new city hall was one his greatest accomplishments.

“I keep wondering what kind of financial genius you are to make this work like clockwork and come in under budget,” he said.

Councilor Josef Lucero said Alamosa was fortunate to have someone of Cherpeski’s caliber as city manager, and the council would try hard to find someone like him, or better, to replace him.

Lucero said Cherpeski was his candidate for the job from the beginning, even though he was not part of the group who selected Cherpeski at that time.

“The mayor and council at that time made a wise choice, and the people in Oregon also made a wise choice,” Lucero said.

Councilman Greg Gillaspie added that in the relatively short time Cherpeski has served the city, he has performed an excellent job.

“The staff loves him, the citizens appreciate him, and the city council has had the pleasure to work with him,” he said. “He’s done so many good things for the city of Alamosa. I can’t begin to thank him enough.”

Alamosa County Commissioner Darius Allen said he has come to respect Cherpeski’s judgment and has appreciated the working relationship the county has had with Cherpeski in recent years, particularly around economic development issues.